Tuesday, June 23, 2015

CDCR Carries Torch for Special Olympics

Secretary to speak on
steps of State Capitol

SACRAMENTO— California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Secretary Jeff Beard will join Sacramento
law enforcement agencies and Special Olympics Northern California Global
Messenger Karissa Krater for the Law Enforcement Torch Run to celebrate the
Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics’ Summer Games.

Also joining the morning run are Cynthia
Florez-DeLyon, Deputy Director of CDCR Community Reentry Services and Program
Support, CDCR Press Secretary Jeffrey Callison and agents from CDCR’s Division
of Adult Parole Operations.

In the evening, representatives from CDCR
will carry the torch into the stadium, where Dr. Diana Toche, CDCR
Undersecretary of Health Services, will light the Special Olympics Cauldron.

CDCR was recognized as the top fundraising
agency in 2014 after raising $133,000 statewide to benefit Special Olympics. In
Northern California alone, CDCR raised more than $79,000.

What:

Law
Enforcement Torch Run and Northern California Summer Games Opening Ceremony

LOS
ANGELES – Special agents from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s
Office of Correctional Safety, in conjunction with federal and local
authorities, have arrested 15 defendants named in a federal racketeering
indictment that describes the development and implementation of a coalition of
three criminal street gangs in the Northeast Los Angeles area. The gangs were
brought together under a truce ordered by a Mexican Mafia member for the
purpose of controlling criminal activity in the neighborhoods where the trio of
gangs operated.

Unlike
previous federal racketeering cases in this region that targeted
long-established street gangs, the indictment that was returned yesterday by a
federal grand jury outlines how Mexican Mafia member Arnold Gonzales created a
criminal enterprise by unifying three gangs that had traditionally been rivals.
According to the 27-count indictment, the “peace treaty” imposed by Arnold
Gonzales brought together the Frogtown, Toonerville and Rascals gangs, which
then worked “in concert to control the narcotics trafficking and other illicit
activities committed in their territories,” which run along the Los Angeles
River from Elysian Park nearly to Burbank.

The
indictment alleges a conspiracy to violate the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act (RICO) and accuses a total of 22 defendants of being “members
and associates of a criminal organization engaged in, amongst other things,
conspiracy to traffic in narcotics, narcotics trafficking, extortion, and
crimes of violence, including conspiracy to commit murder, murder, attempted
murder, and robbery.”

“There
is a path of lives ruined, and families devastated by the violence, extortion,
and addictions that were created by this gang alliance,” said Bill Kunz,
Special Agent in Charge, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
Office of Correctional Safety. “So, those who join with the Mexican Mafia
should be on notice: law enforcement is also banded together. We will track you
down, and take you down.”

Gonzales
is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator. He is serving a sentence of
life without the possibility of parole at Pelican Bay State Prison. He
was convicted on

September
7, 1982 of murder in the first degree, assault with the intent to murder, and
burglary in the 2nd degree out of Los Angeles County.

Exploiting
a power vacuum created by previous federal RICO cases targeting Northeast Los
Angeles gangs and the Mexican Mafia members who controlled them, Arnold
Gonzales allegedly assumed control of the three street gangs in the fall of
2010. Because he was incarcerated in Pelican Bay State Prison after being
convicted of murder, Arnold Gonzales anointed another Frogtown member – Jorge
Grey, also known as “Bouncer” – to be his emissary on the streets, according to
the indictment. Acting as the so-called shot caller, Grey convened a meeting of
representatives of Northeast Los Angeles gangs in September 2010. At this
meeting, Grey informed the gang representatives that he was Arnold Gonzales’s
“mouthpiece” and that he had orders to broker a truce among the rival gangs of
Frogtown, Toonerville, and the Rascals so that they could work together to
control illegal activities in the area on behalf of, and for the benefit of,
Arnold Gonzales.

The
investigation showed that nearly two years after its formation, the criminal
organization had achieved its goal of unifying the three longstanding rival
gangs into a single criminal enterprise. Less than two years after Arnold
Gonzales imposed the truce on the gangs, one of the Toonerville shot callers,
Manuel Vallejo, was talking about the “United Nations,” “New World Order” and
“United Neighborhoods,” which he said was the “game plan.” Just a few months
ago, Vallejo was boasting about the execution of that “game plan,” noting that
he was part of something that had ended more than 50 years of fighting between
Frogtown, Toonerville and the Rascals.

“For
the past two decades, federal authorities have been fighting the influence of
the Mexican Mafia both inside prison facilities and on the streets of Southern
California,” said Assistant United States Attorney Robert Dugdale, Chief of the
office’s Criminal Division. “We sought to ensure that being a shot caller in
such a gang is a job whose only reward will be many, many years in federal
custody. The indictment announced today is the latest salvo in this battle, and
we will continue our crackdown on criminal organizations like the Mexican Mafia
and street gangs that do its bidding as long as they threaten our communities.”

The
RICO indictment targeting the Arnold Gonzales Organization is the result of
Operation “Gig ‘em,” which was a 2½-year investigation conducted by the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Violent Crime Impact Team; the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Correctional
Safety, Special Service Unit; the Glendale Police Department; and the Los
Angeles Police Department.

Glendale
Police Chief Rob Castro stated, “The Glendale Police Department recognizes that
gang crimes have no borders and the City of Glendale is not immune to the
impact of gang violence. Our participation in a multi-jurisdictional operation
such as this ensures the safety of our community.”

This
morning, authorities arrested 14 of the defendants named in the RICO
indictment. Four other defendants were already in custody, and law enforcement
continues to search for three defendants, including Grey. (Two other
individuals named in separate one-defendant, one-count drug trafficking
indictments were also arrested this morning.)

Members
of the organization also implemented plans to expand operations into the
greater Lancaster, California area, where they hoped to engage in drug
trafficking and collect “taxes” on behalf of, and for the benefit, of Arnold
Gonzales.

As
part of the scheme, several participants in the enterprise allegedly deposited
money into Arnold Gonzales’s prison account, with one individual depositing
over $133,000 on her own over the course of the 2-year investigation. The money
was closely tracked by investigators.

The
indictment alleges that Grey and other members of the enterprise engaged in
narcotics and weapons transactions at Homeboy Industries, and one defendant
allegedly planned to use Homeboy Industries as an “alibi” if he was accused of
associating with other gang members in violation of a gang injunction.

In
addition to the RICO charge in the indictment, various defendants are charged
with narcotics and weapons offenses, including, in one instance, the possession
of a machinegun.

An
indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every
defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in court.

If
they are convicted of charges contained in the indictment, all of the
defendants would face potential sentences of decades in federal prison.